What's wrong with the Dallas Cowboys II

 

What’s Wrong with the Dallas Cowboys II

 

First and foremost, a team must play all three quarters and not one. Lamb and Cooper being out hurts the passing game, but when you have the 15million dollar man and his 35 million dollar handler and one helluva second stringer, special team stud Pollard, you would perhaps concentrate on the running game. One would think.

I go back to days when Jones and Johnson took over the team and had nothing of consequence to work with. Well, that’s not exactly true. They had jay Novacek and exploited him to the max. Memory serves me right, he set a single season record on receptions. While the offense wasn’t flashy by any means it was moving for there was no running game or deep threat on the roster. That would change with the acquisitions of Irvin and Smith, but it was the short outs to Jay that laid the ground work for what would become one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL.

The difference between now and then is the whining and complaining. There were a host of bad calls in yesterdays game on both teams. Pass interference and holding have taken on the most ridiculous proportions since I started watching the game back in 1967, I’m sick of it. The only PI call I agree with was when Brown didn’t turn around to pick of the ball and ran into the receiver. Other than that, the others were bogus at best. And holding. Good Lord. Unless the offensive lineman doesn’t bull dog the defender to the ground, let them play! I’m tired of the game being PC correct and not letting these so called, “warriors, gladiators, heroes,” mix it up like they used to.  Football used to be a full contact sport. Thanks to replay and ESPN and their crap, it’s becoming noting more than an over priced ballet.

Back to the Cowboys, they have Schultz, modern day Novacek, Witten to keep the linebackers, corners honest. Gallup is back to keep the safeties busy. Wilson is at best is a decoy, for you can’t count on him to catch anything but a cold. So, that leaves you with the running game. The boys gained a total of 61 yards. That’s it. 61 yards and they supposedly have one of the premier running backs in the league? Obviously not.  Talk about being overpaid and a bust, that’s Elliot. While his back-up, Pollard gained eleven yards more than his contemporary for a total of 36. Yet, he lit it up on kick returns with 129 yards. Now, that’s impressive. Head to head Pollard and Elliot have rushed for the exact same number of yards, yet Elliot is making six times more a year. Yeah, that was good contract extension Jerry. Overall. Elliot is leading Pollard in total yards by 189 yards. Again, not very impressive. Actually, that’s pretty pathetic especially when you look back at the league’s greatest runners: Sanders, Smith, Dorsett, Riggins, Owens, Sayers and Brown. These men were paid to run, whether they had a good front line or not and they didn’t disappoint. That is all this current Cowboys team ins doing, disappoint on an epic scale!

If they would have played all four quarters instead of the last one, they would have been victorious over the Raiders. Thanks to the stalwart effort of Parsons, like Heyward with the Steelers Monday night, he kept the team in the hunt and never let up. That attitude and gamesmanship needs to start infecting the offense and rapidly. He is showing not only a great handle of the game, but he is also trying to lead and take control of the defense. Who is doing it on the offense? No one.

With six games left, five against division rivals, it is time for someone to take control and start holding players accountable. While they should handle the Saints with relative ease, the Giants, Redskins and Eagles would like nothing more than to knock off their arch rival and watch them tumble in the standings.

So, the Cowboys have a choice, get with the program and start playing to their potential or they are going to watch their division lead evaporate and they, like the Rangers, will be watching the playoffs from their couches.